Overnight Country Gloop

Hi all,

I've only been baking bread a short while but am hooked already after my first good loaf, a nice crusty white baked in a dutch oven. But my spirits have slumped these past few days after trying and failing twice at an overnight country blonde, from Ken's book Flour Water Salt Yeast.

My first batch was made to spec. Bulk fermentation was done at 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) for 12 hours. Seemed fine, but when I went to unload it onto the bench I discovered a gloopy mess that oozed out into a pool and attached itself to the unfloured parts of the bench. I could do nothing other than scrape it off and swish it down the drain.

Second batch was made at 70% hydration instead of 78%. After my stretch and folds I had a nice elastic dough that easily held its shape. Fearing I'd over-fermented the previous lot, I put the dough into a measured container and kept it with me in the air-conditioned bedroom for the night. The air temperature was 20C (68F). After 8 hours there was no appreciable rise in the dough so I put it on the kitchen bench figuring the cool air has somehow retarded the dough. After a few hours it started to rise and though the recipe states the dough should triple in volume I became worried and decided to turn it out and shape it after it had doubled in volume. Well, I was utterly dismayed to find the dough in much the same state as the first lot. It was again unusable and so went down the drain.

My starter was fed as directed and achieved double volume in 7 hours and was used after 8 hours. Ingredients were measured very accurately. I don't see how I could have over-fermented the dough as it only reached double its volume. I gave it the correct number of stretch and folds and achieved a nice elastic dough that held its shape with ease.

Ken's dough is far firmer than mine is. He is able to pick it up and plop it back down. If I tried that the dough would run through my fingers and stick to the bench.

Can anyone help me? I want to try again but I do not have an endless bucket of flour to scoop from and I don't have time to keep getting it wrong. I am baking bread for my family and want to learn levain breads as my daughter has a certain intolerance to gluten. I read the long fermentation times can render the gluten into a more easily digestible state.